State of GameSalad on 4-18-2017

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Comments

  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822

    @tatiang said:
    Maybe it's just my rant day but a lack of communication doesn't indicate being busy (or not busy)... it just indicates that communication is not a priority.

    Agreed, as other people have said it really doesn't take a lot of effort to keep in contact, no one at this stage (at least no one who has been around for long enough) is expecting GameSalad to get involved in the community (answering questions, sharing ideas, joining conversations and generally enthusing about GameSalad) I think most people are long past expecting that level of involvement/interest . . . but at the least you'd expect them to drop in every couple of weeks to let us know they're still alive, it'd take someone 5 minutes to update us or say 'hello'.

  • PhilipCCPhilipCC Encounter Bay, South AustraliaMember Posts: 1,390
    edited June 2017

    @Socks said:

    Agreed, as other people have said it really doesn't take a lot of effort to keep in contact...
    ... it'd take someone 5 minutes to update us or say 'hello'.

    Hello. Just thought I'd let you know I'm still here working away. Nothing really to report yet.

    See that wasn't hard! >:)

    The problem is that it will take them 5 weeks to even see these posts, even if you tag them in the post! :smirk:

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034
    edited June 2017

    @PhilipCC hello, nothing really to report yet.

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034
    edited June 2017

    Actually it's a little of column a, a little of column b.

    The end of the school year is a busy time for us as schools start deciding their budgets, which has taken lot of @ForumNinja 's time (he's helping track down the right people at schools to call). He's also been hard at work QAing the tool.

    The dev team is still plugging away at building the tool. We're shooting for an early beta by mid June and a wider beta in July, so I'm heads down on that.

    I've gotten the local storage db working well and we got HTML5 preview to load from the database.

    Now we've started putting in features like sorting and filtering libraries and proportional resize for groups (along with a lot of other small features that were skipped because they were relatively easy but not necessary to prove out the tech).

    Next is getting the system integrated with login, the portfolio, and setting up the production server environment (which are all necessary to begin the wider beta test).

    That and I spent the weekend dealing with a stuck nut on the wife's car (PB and a cheater bar succeeded where a impact driver mostly stripped the nut).

    As for engine updates, we haven't planned that far yet, but with iOS 11 in the fall and some users seeing problems with Google Play, IAP, I think we'll need to put in a round of fixes just after the beta is launched (and now that the tools is in better shape, I might dedicate some after hours time to get a head start on this work).

    In the meantime, something for you all to play with...

    Way back in 2012 some members of our team built an HTML5 app to make Pixel Art. Various things in the company kept it from getting released, but I recently found a copy that was "good enough" to release if not quite where the team wanted it.

    Soooo, I proudly present:

    GS Paint!
    http://paint.gamesalad.com/

    Have fun. We'll try to get a more comprehensive update soon!

  • freneticzfreneticz SwedenMember, PRO Posts: 774

    Thanks for the info, good to know GS team is alive.

  • fmakawafmakawa Member Posts: 565

    The pixel art app is a nice bone to throw. got playstogether anywhere around there??? I'm kidding, not quite, but certainly childish. Thanks for the update. Cant wait for the July then!

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034

    @fmakawa Playstogether is lower on the priority list, sadly.

    Our current set of priorities are (in chronological order):

    • Tool
    • Engine updates for IAP
    • Start planning next round of update / features.

    I think high on the list are the loading / rotation issues on Android and to fix a personal peeve of mine, which is to fix slow loading times due to large tables.

    While I know everyone has pet engine features, I think what might be more helpful is if people suggest tool features / bugs / pet peeves. Since it's all hands on the new tool, we can actually try to address those issues as we build this new tool!

  • fmakawafmakawa Member Posts: 565

    Thanks for the clarity. The loading tables issue is a big one and the android rotation bug. Don't mind my earlier comment, I was just being silly.

  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949

    @adent42 said:
    While I know everyone has pet engine features, I think what might be more helpful is if people suggest tool features / bugs / pet peeves. Since it's all hands on the new tool, we can actually try to address those issues as we build this new tool!

    What are you looking for specifically? Would it be helpful if we reiterated some of the past requests such as folders, zoom, grouping of actors, auto-complete of expressions, etc.? Would it be useful for you to post a screenshot or video of some aspect of the new tool for feedback? You have a community of people hungry for info and generally willing to help improve the tool... but needing some guidance around how to do so.

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  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034
    edited June 2017

    @tatiang We've got one more major design change, I think, before we're gonna be ready to release some screenshots/videos etc, but we'll announce that when we're ready.

    As for request... exactly that kind of stuff. To help you out, here's what we already have from your list:

    • Zoom 25% - 200% in 25% increments.
    • Auto-complete: Expression editor, Image selection, Scene Selection, Attribute selection (so they're no longer dropdowns).

    Some other cool things that were asked for or just things we found annoying and fixed.

    • Scene Editor multi-select + movement and resize.
    • Animation preview on animate behavior.
    • Tables - you can now insert rows and columns with a context menu (right clicking).
    • Sort. You can sort assets (images, sounds, fonts, scenes, actors) Alphabetically and by Add Date, forward and backward.
    • Search filtering. The libraries will filter based on a search box.
    • Hide individual actors.

    TODO:

    • Hide whole layers
    • For folders / grouping of actors, I'm looking to do universal tagging. I've always thought tagging is more powerful than folders. The plan would be to have a "folder view" for tags that would show all the tags as folders and let you dig in.
    • Asset inspector view. If you double click on a Font / Image / Sound, it would show you meta-data about the asset and let you preview it.
    • Snap to grid. This will be easy-ish to develop. Conceptually not hard, just enough
      moving parts that I don't want to rush it.

    • Error console. (List of project errors with direct links to the errors).

    In general, most of the time people ask for features that they've already asked for before. So don't be afraid of repeating yourself. We're just asking people to focus on the problems / feature request that have to do with the tool, so we can focus and incorporate those suggestions.

    After we get the beta out, you can all start clamoring for engine features again.

    I suspect @ForumNinja is going to compile all of this into a new "State of GameSalad" post soon, so wait to put stuff in there :)

  • AdrenalineAdrenaline Member Posts: 523

    @adent42 that list is really awesome and exciting. Please PLEASE recognize our hunger for information exactly like what you just posted. I know regular community updates aren't an insignificant ask - it's a real responsibility. But someone needs to be given that responsibility. Needing to beg, wait, beg, press like/agree on the beg post, wait some more, AND THEN get a post that reads pretty sweet is not the way to do this. This has been said before, but a lack of change isn't a good reason to quit asking.

    Anyway, a number of things you mentioned above sound great!

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034

    Heh, I was just hoping you all could hold off for a couple more weeks when more of it would have been ready ;) That and being swamped. Mostly the swamped.

  • AdrenalineAdrenaline Member Posts: 523

    @adent42 said:
    Heh, I was just hoping you all could hold off for a couple more weeks when more of it would have been ready ;) That and being swamped. Mostly the swamped.

    That's fair. Looking forward to hearing more in the future!

  • IceboxIcebox Member Posts: 1,485
    edited June 2017

    @adent42 This is great , thanks for the update :) I submitted a bug that happens with replicate and display text on html5 , it causes all actors to disappear and another bug if replicate is set in a timer and the direction is set to self.time or game.time the actor disappear. I also sent the demo hope you look into it , since it will be our main viewer, thanks again for the update !

    http://bugs.gamesalad.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1848

  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949
    edited June 2017

    @Adrenaline said:
    @adent42 that list is really awesome and exciting. Please PLEASE recognize our hunger for information exactly like what you just posted. I know regular community updates aren't an insignificant ask - it's a real responsibility. But someone needs to be given that responsibility. Needing to beg, wait, beg, press like/agree on the beg post, wait some more, AND THEN get a post that reads pretty sweet is not the way to do this.

    A hundred times, yes.

    That's a great list @adent42 but it's confusing for me as to why those kinds of communications don't come out more regularly. I've for the first time found myself deeply annoyed at GameSalad as a company and I'm probably the most patient person I know. So many months and years of waiting for features, being promised things, and nothing materializing (I had real hopes for Graphene!) led me to this point. I mean I could probably find the first post requesting folders or snap-to-grid and it would likely be around the time my 7 year-old was born.

    So yes, I'm thrilled to see the list you posted but in the back of my mind I'm also really pessimistic that this will all get completed...

    Edit: I wasn't far off: http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/19153/snap-to-grid-is-a-must

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  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited June 2017

    //

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034

    @tatiang I refer you back to my last post.

    I posted some updates in this thread in May and figured we wouldn't need bigger post until we had something later this month!

    Back when we used to post "no change" every month, some people complained we shouldn't post so much if there was nothing new!

    Generally speaking, I try to do updates every quarter or so (3 months). Unless there's something specific and new (like a new release).

    We'll keep working on finding the right balance.

  • AlchimiaStudiosAlchimiaStudios Member Posts: 1,069

    @PhilipCC said:

    @Socks said:

    Agreed, as other people have said it really doesn't take a lot of effort to keep in contact...
    ... it'd take someone 5 minutes to update us or say 'hello'.

    Hello. Just thought I'd let you know I'm still here working away. Nothing really to report yet.

    See that wasn't hard! >:)

    @adent42 said:
    @PhilipCC hello, nothing really to report yet.

    Haha I thought that was pretty funny. :p

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  • ArmellineArmelline Member, PRO Posts: 5,327

    Exciting exciting exciting!

    I have a whole list of feature requests somewhere that I'll dig out, but here's one that is hopefully easy and would be super handy:

    Right now you can only find out what actors an attribute is used in by trying to delete it, checking the list, and hitting cancel. This should be an option that isn't so scary and unintuitive! Being able to quickly see a list of actors an attribute is used in would be awesome. Double bonus points if we could "highlight" an attribute, and have all rules/behaviours it's used in highlighted!

    The new tool is sounding awesome and I can't wait to try it out!

  • RedRoboRedRobo Member, PRO Posts: 680

    @adent42 Couple of things that currently frustrate me on a daily basis with current Mac creator:

    1. Custom device resolutions within Preview don't get saved (also doesn't keep last setting)
    2. Inability to detach elements of the UI and drag over to a second monitor

    Thanks for the update ;)

  • PhilipCCPhilipCC Encounter Bay, South AustraliaMember Posts: 1,390

    @AlchimiaStudios said:

    @PhilipCC said:

    @Socks said:

    Agreed, as other people have said it really doesn't take a lot of effort to keep in contact...
    ... it'd take someone 5 minutes to update us or say 'hello'.

    Hello. Just thought I'd let you know I'm still here working away. Nothing really to report yet.

    See that wasn't hard! >:)

    @adent42 said:
    @PhilipCC hello, nothing really to report yet.

    Haha I thought that was pretty funny. :p

    Haha, hah! I thought it was pretty funny too.

    But I am shocked that it provoked a response! :astonished:

    All sounds promising to me. Thank you @adent42 .

  • HypnorabbitHypnorabbit SingaporeMember, PRO Posts: 263

    Great work thanks @adent42. It's a shame the community has to constantly beg for information (I've never known any paying community to be so starved of information like this). But big thanks - everything you've noted sounds very promising. Fingers crossed that the next couple of months go smoothly for you, you can get this tool out and then start work on new feature requests.

  • Jeffm2Jeffm2 Member Posts: 142

    i have recently updated to 1.25.80 and Sierra as have my colleagues and now get a specific code signing error about detritus (not about duplicate certificates, profiles, etc). Anyone else have this issue? we have not been able to pin it down

  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271

    @Jeffm2 said:
    i have recently updated to 1.25.80 and Sierra as have my colleagues and now get a specific code signing error about detritus (not about duplicate certificates, profiles, etc). Anyone else have this issue? we have not been able to pin it down

    You may consider opening a new thread about this issue rather than posting it here where it can get lost in all of the excitement.

  • adent42adent42 Key Master, Head Chef, Executive Chef, Member, PRO Posts: 3,034

    @Jeffm2 if it's the issue I think it is, we're working on some other users on it. The problem is, we can't reproduce it on our own Sierra install.

    We're still trying to find a fix, but you may want to try something like: https://github.com/maciekish/iReSign and see if that works for you.

    I recently implemented a change on the publishing servers that should remove resource forks from files during the publishing process. If you haven't published since Tuesday, try again. If it's still broken, then we suspect it has something to do with user account permissions (shooting in the dark here).

    To @Braydon_SFX point, you should start a different thread for this (if you haven't yet). It's kind of a separate issue to track.

  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822

    @BigDave

    Three guesses . . .

  • BigDaveBigDave Member Posts: 2,239
    edited June 2017

    @Socks

    I approve the improved version, the additional definitions you added deliver a lot of value.
    But the rights belong to me ( got a time stamp).
    If you want to use the "patateo face" commercially you will need my written permission.
    And in this case I demand my fair share paid out in potatoes by the end of each month.

  • PhilipCCPhilipCC Encounter Bay, South AustraliaMember Posts: 1,390
    edited June 2017

    @BigDave Clever man. You registered it with the EU Patatent Office I presume?

  • NKBDLNKBDL Member, PRO Posts: 100

    Great to see an update is being developed! I d' really like to see a web version where it is completely compatible with your local version, and can be worked on the cloud vice versa!

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